"Still waiting to see if I'm on the show or not" BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

40,000 people applied for The Amazing Race Australia. What sorts of teams would you like to see on the show? Who... http://fb.me/L8mu0Qkm

Website links to the AusTAR website.

THe question was also posed on the AusTAR facebook page, which evoked this response:

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40,000 people applied for The Amazing Race Australia. What sorts of teams would you like to see on the show? Who made it through? You’ll find out very soon.

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(Name) Expect the models - Erin McNaught's model boyfriend is going to on (that was leaked a few weeks ago). Also been released here in Adelaide that a female radio DJ will be going on with her sister.

TWO Muslim best mates are the only Victorian members of the cast of the Australian version of The Amazing Race.

Youth worker Mo, 26, and retailer Mos, 25, join 10 other teams on the Channel 7 show, which has already been filmed.

The pairs have diverse backgrounds including models, married bikers, farmers, surfers and reunited sisters.

The boys, who grew up in Melbourne, said The Amazing Race is a great way to break down stereotypes, and in their case what it means to be Muslim.

"At the end of the day I think we're just showing what Muslims are human," Mo said.

"We are not any different and I think that's what the other contestants appreciated. That's what we learnt from each other.

"Travelling is the best way to get to know people and I think to break down stereotypes, because you're at your rawest."

"We are just one group of society and you walk away from it and think there is actually not much difference between any of us," Mo said.

The boys' Islamic faith meant they stopped to pray five times a day but it made no difference how they were accepted by other couples in the race.

The boys came together at the MCG last week, the place where they started the big race after landing on the hallowed turf by helicopter.They were tight-lipped about how they went but say it was the experience of a lifetime.

"Hands down it is the most absolutely amazing thing I have ever done," Mo said.

The Australian version of the show, hosted by Grant Bowler, is expected to premiere after Easter.

Eleven teams of two will give the race a distinctively Aussie feel when they embark on a 50,000 kilometre, four continent, 12 country, 23 city adventure.

Host Grant Bowler says, “This race is going to be enormous. The route is simply incredible.

“One thing that instantly makes it different is it’s full of Australians. The teams are a wonderful bunch of people, with huge diversity between and within the teams, and some fantastic characters that are iconically Australian.”

The adventure will see teams crisscross the globe, unsure of what challenges lie ahead. What they do know is that the race will be fastpaced and unrelenting. It will test their ability to work together as a team, challenge their personal relationships and provide life-changing experiences. Along the way they’ll confront fears, develop confidence, experience new cultures and make lifelong friends.

At each destination teams will compete in a series of challenges – some mental and some physical. And many teams will find the biggest challenge is just getting there. Ahead they’ll face dizzying heights, heavy loads, confronting foods, language barriers, money concerns and races to the pit stop as well as Roadblocks, Detours, Fast Forwards, Yields and U-turns.

Who will have the right combination of strategy, strength, skill and teamwork to win the $250,000 prize?

Another promo out tonight! I didn't catch the full thing, I only saw Grant at the MCG, but it suggests that we'll have some more promos to come in the next few weeks Hopefully 7 will put it on the website soon, so we can post it here

EXCLUSIVE: Seven Network has bagged a raft of big name brands to sponsor the network's new prime time reality TV series, The Amazing Race.

The line up of sponsors includes Canon, National Australia Bank, Honda, Vodafone and Gloria Jean’s, which have all signed multi-million dollar deals.

The inaugural Australian series will provide sponsors with brand integration across offline and online content, in addition to targeted advertising spots around the show.

Some of the sponsors will also incorporate their association with the series into their marketing activities.

Seven Network network director of sales Kurt Burnette, said: “This is one of those properties that immediately popped with agencies and clients, much more than many other properties. It’s a familiar format, which has a great deal of potential.”

Aside from the five confirmed sponsors, Seven confirmed it is also in talks with two other undisclosed sponsors.

EXCLUSIVE: Seven Network has bagged a raft of big name brands to sponsor the network's new prime time reality TV series, The Amazing Race.

The line up of sponsors includes Canon, National Australia Bank, Honda, Vodafone and Gloria Jean’s, which have all signed multi-million dollar deals.

The inaugural Australian series will provide sponsors with brand integration across offline and online content, in addition to targeted advertising spots around the show.

Some of the sponsors will also incorporate their association with the series into their marketing activities.

Seven Network network director of sales Kurt Burnette, said: “This is one of those properties that immediately popped with agencies and clients, much more than many other properties. It’s a familiar format, which has a great deal of potential.”

Aside from the five confirmed sponsors, Seven confirmed it is also in talks with two other undisclosed sponsors.

As per a media pack today in The Herald Sun, "Brother and Sister (Liberty and Ryot) have a tough start, not helped by a mortified Liberty vomiting in probably her first scene on TV. Siblings to Aussie comedian Rebel Wilson."

I KNEW we were in trouble when one of the contestants asked how to get a bus from Kuta Beach, Bali, to Vietnam. And it only got worse.

I always thought Australians were intrepid travellers - street-smart, savvy, considerate and great in an emergency - but I was in for a shock.

When it comes to being on The Amazing Race Australia, all rules and etiquette are thrown out the window.

This is a heavyweight TV production, with Channel 7 teaming with Australian production company Active TV, Race alumni and creators of Amazing Race Asia. After four years of planning, the Amazing Race Australia was born. Contestants travel across four continents, 12 countries and 23 cities in 29 days, chasing the $250,000 first prize.

The sheer size of the task was the lure for Aussie actor turned Hollywood hotshot Grant Bowler to be host.

"I was pretty doubtful at first," Bowler says. "I wanted to make sure we weren't doing the cheap, end-of-the-world backyard version of what had already been done.

"But the route, the production ... it has all been phenomenal."

Following the production was no easy task. I found myself panting and sweating as I staggered around seemingly endless airport terminals.

My own internal race was ensuring I did not become the annoying journo holding up the production team.

I was to race only the first legs of the competition, but by day two I had lost track of what city I was in. Changing clothes seemed unnecessary. I was running on adrenalin.

With 10 years of Races under his belt, Active TV founder and president Michael McKay said creating the series in Australia was like a "call of duty".

"I always thought Australians could travel really well and set up the route accordingly, but that turned to rubbish," McKay says.

"That is a myth we may explode in this series."

Contestants trudge from airport to harbour to cidomo cart stop-off. The only real difference between them and me is that they are finding clues and I - often aimlessly - try to keep up with the pack.

The pace is unimaginable and everyone becomes wide-eyed and ratty ... and that's just the production crew.

The contestants take chaos to another level.

This is quickly discovered in Indonesia, when all flights are grounded because of volcanic ash. Or counting money under the blazing sun in the Gili Islands. Or ploughing a rice paddy in Vietnam. Think the Griswald family on steroids.

McKay is the leader of the pack of contestants, camera and production crew. "I'm the school principal," he says.

"Trying to go undercover with a low profile is a bit hard with a tonne of equipment and probably 100 people snaking around the terminal."

But he and Bowler say it's the action-packed nature of the Australian version that will set it apart from the US original.

"If you want to do an Australian version then you want them to get their hands dirty, get them ankle deep in poo," Bowler says.

"I always thought Australians could travel really well and set up the route accordingly, but that turned to rubbish,'' McKay says.

Contestants wearing wintery smiles trudge from airport to harbour to cart stop-off. The only real difference between them and me is that they are finding clues and I - often aimlessly - try to keep up with the pack.

The pace is unimaginable and everyone becomes wide-eyed and ratty - and that's just the production crew.

The contestants take chaos to another level.

This is quickly discovered in Indonesia, when all flights are grounded because of volcanic ash. Or counting money under the blazing sun in the Gili Islands. Or ploughing a rice paddy in Vietnam. Think the Griswald family on steroids.

"I always thought Australians could travel really well and set up the route accordingly, but that turned to rubbish,'' McKay says.

Contestants wearing wintery smiles trudge from airport to harbour to cart stop-off. The only real difference between them and me is that they are finding clues and I - often aimlessly - try to keep up with the pack.

The pace is unimaginable and everyone becomes wide-eyed and ratty - and that's just the production crew.

The contestants take chaos to another level.

This is quickly discovered in Indonesia, when all flights are grounded because of volcanic ash. Or counting money under the blazing sun in the Gili Islands. Or ploughing a rice paddy in Vietnam. Think the Griswald family on steroids.

The local take on a reality fave is fair and dinkum, writes Andrew Murfett.

WHEN Grant Bowler was offered the gig hosting a local version of the American reality powerhouse The Amazing Race, he immediately thought about how he imagined the show unfolding. It was not flattering.

''I was thinking it might be something like 'Let's race around Launceston','' he says.

Having just completed its 18th season in the US, Race is one of that market's sturdiest and most consistently entertaining reality franchises. Hosted with panache by Kiwi Phil Keoghan, it pits 11 teams of two against each other in a race.

At each stop, the teams complete a set of often mystifying challenges. The goal is to not be the final team to finish and therefore face elimination.

Language, climate and personal feuds must be surmounted to complete challenges and make it to the next port of call.

In the most recent US season, contestants travel from the US to Australia before hitting Japan, China, India, Austria, Switzerland, Brazil and finishing in Miami.

Director of photography Per Larrson, who has worked on the US series from the first day of its first season in 2001, describes the show as the only ''true'' reality show on television.

''It's basically live TV,'' he says from his office in Los Angeles. ''You are out there with the teams, following them and capturing them succeeding or failing. It's as is. It's a race, so you can't ask them to redo. The speed gives it a raw look.''

An Australian-based Race franchise has been rumoured since Channel Seven began screening the series almost 10 years ago.

Executive producer Trent Chapman says in his decade working at the network, Race has been deemed the so-called dream project. ''There is a feeling here it's kind of the ultimate,'' he says.

Much of Race's appeal to diehards stems from a lack of viewer voting or obnoxious, theatrical judges.

If you want to get to the finish line first, you must have the luck, skill and wherewithal to make it there yourself. It's an SMS-free competition.

Pre-production on the Australian franchise began last May, before filming started in Melbourne in November, a healthy pre-production time frame by Australian standards. Filming took place seven days a week for four consecutive weeks.

Larrson travelled to Australia during pre-production to ensure ''everything is done the same way visually''.

''This is a format you need to follow to get the same look,'' he says. ''I taught them how we shoot it in the US and created the look for the show. It's very difficult when you have 11 cameras in 11 different locations. You have to trust them. It has to be seamless.''

Casting, perhaps of greatest consequence to the show's success or failure, was another significant component of pre-production.

For Seven producers accustomed to casting series such as food and talent shows, it was a welcome change.

''We have to usually cast people who can dance or cook or sing, so this was the first opportunity I've had to cast people,'' Chapman says. ''It allowed us great flexibility to find an interesting, engaging and funny cast.''

The cast members themselves are nothing if not diverse. Among others, there are two middled-aged Big W staffers from Western Australia; a Muslim pair from Melbourne; a Miss Universe contestant; a tattoo-laden bikie couple; a father-son combination; two internet entrepreneurs; and Matt Nunn, a farmer from west of Birdsville who doesn't have the internet, checks his mobile once a week and doesn't watch television.

While the $250,000 prize is a significant carrot, several cast members clearly intend to leverage their on-screen time. Renae Wauhop, a former Miss Universe contestant, says although singing is her ''passion'', a career on camera would be ideal.

''I wouldn't mind trying my hand at presenting or Better Homes [and Gardens],'' she says. ''This could be a door opener if you meet the right people.''

At the same time as casting was under way, producers embarked on six months of planning a worldwide route.

The brief was simple: travel to as many locations as was logistically possible in the episodic time frame, while also covering a broad range of cultures, languages and climates.

Location scouts began travelling the world and trying to make arrangements in remote towns and cities with locals who would be crucial in the development of tasks for the contestants.

The result is a divergent list of destinations that includes two countries previously not visited by the US mother ship. Israel, Indonesia and Egypt are among the locations visited by the Australian show.

''Because it's such a well-established brand, even in places where English is not the first language there's a lot of goodwill towards it,'' Chapman says. ''At bizarre, out-of-the-way places, people would ask us if we were on The Amazing Race.''

The contestants signed contracts in November and were unable to disclose their whereabouts during filming.

Contestant Sam Schoers says the sole person she told was her doctor, who was asked to sign a confidentiality clause.

''I told [family and friends] I went to dad's farm,'' she says. ''I told dad I was on holidays. Renae told everyone she was doing a modelling contract in America. Nobody noticed we were gone at the same time.''

Bowler, who narrates Seven's top-rating Border Security and had a similar role on The Mole, was an obvious choice for host.

In Race, the host is essentially the straight man and ringleader who must convey information quickly and clearly to the contestants and audience. It's about authority and empathy.

''I've done the very stern taskmaster thing on The Mole,'' Bowler says. ''I wanted to establish a rapport rather than be the enemy. They are on a race against each other. They don't need me as a ringmaster.''

Bowler says Seven's investment in strong production values ensured he took the role.

As it goes, US series co-creator Bertram van Munster was ''heavily involved'' in the production, according to several sources, and along with Disney, the studio that owns the property, was eager to ensure the brand was protected.

Still, although the show ''almost certainly'' will be sold to a range of overseas markets, producers made some subtle changes to the new version. Australia, of course, is a different audience to the US.

''Pace-wise, the show is slightly slower,'' Chapman says. ''It allows people more time to connect with teams.''

Diehards will also note the ''pit stop'' map has been reconfigured from the US series so Australia is more prominent.

Those who have worked on both the US and Australian productions suggest a cultural difference exists between the respective shows' contestants. Australians, as a rule, are more used to travelling and comfortable being in somebody else's backyard. We are also generally more conscious of the host culture.

''The Australians have more of a 'nicer' attitude,'' Larrson says. ''Americans tend to compete tougher. To me, the Aussies seemed to enjoy it more and not take it as seriously.''

Bowler, who's based in the US, has another theory. ''In the American version, there's no shame around winning,'' he says from his home in Venice Beach. ''They're there to win and they don't carry the embarrassment of that. It's a very positive, natural attribute. Australians tend to pretend they don't want something and then back towards it.

''What was interesting was [the Australians] struggled with this innate, cultural sense of fair play. And it's really interesting to watch.''

That may be so but at the end of the second episode, certain players exhibit a ruthless streak and alliances begin to emerge.

''We did keep a couple of things close to ourselves but it is weird how much you share,'' Schoers says. ''Everybody manipulated everybody at some stage in the game.''

Producers are also promising less product placement. Yes, Seven says, there are several commercial agreements in place. For instance, one of the big banks is given air time in episode one. However, there are no airline partners on the series and contestants are free to choose their flight arrangements.

As revered as the US series is, it has never been a ratings winner for Seven. The most recent season is screening on 7Two. Chapman and his team know they must attract a new audience without alienating long-term fans. ''We want to bring a whole new generation to it,'' Chapman says. ''You might feel distant from some of the American teams but there's a great opportunity to connect with Australians.''

Still, regardless of nationality, as the show progresses and the stakes rise, competitive instinct kicks in. ''We have had contestants who have had very difficult behaviours - anger for not making it on time or being angry for losing. The audience forgets it's us working 24 hours a day,'' Larrson says. ''The lack of sleep and food makes people irritated. You make decisions you would usually not make. But that's part of the appeal.''The Amazing Race Australia starts on Monday at 8.30pm on Channel Seven.

So are we going to see teams drinking Gloria Jean's coffee at the early morning pitstops?

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Gloria Jean's invests $3m in Amazing Race

13 May 2011

By David Blight

Gloria Jean's Coffees is to launch the biggest marketing push in the company's history through its sponsorship of Seven Network's The Amazing Race Australia.

The $3 million campaign, which was created by the brand's in-house marketing agency Immersed Marketing, will launch on 16 May, leveraging the series official media partners, including Seven Network and Pacific Magazines.

The campaign will also involve below-the-line elements such as social media, product placement and sales promotions within coffee houses. A consumer promotion involving more than $630,000 worth of prizes will also be included.

Gloria Jean's Coffees general manager Gareth Pike said: "This is one of the most anticipated television series Australia has ever witnessed, so it was an obvious choice for Gloria Jean's Coffees. It's undoubtedly the most ambitious initiative the brand has ever rolled out and is designed to generate a significant brand reappraisal as well as targeting a new guest demographic."